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involve

 - 5 dictionary results

in⋅volve

  [in-volv]
Use involve in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), -volved, -volv⋅ing.
1. to include as a necessary circumstance, condition, or consequence; imply; entail: This job involves long hours and hard work.
2. to engage or employ.
3. to affect, as something within the scope of operation.
4. to include, contain, or comprehend within itself or its scope.
5. to bring into an intricate or complicated form or condition.
6. to bring into difficulties (usually fol. by with): a plot to involve one nation in a war with another.
7. to cause to be troublesomely associated or concerned, as in something embarrassing or unfavorable: Don't involve me in your quarrel!
8. to combine inextricably (usually fol. by with).
9. to implicate, as in guilt or crime, or in any matter or affair.
10. to engage the interests or emotions or commitment of: to become involved in the disarmament movement; to become involved with another woman.
11. to preoccupy or absorb fully (usually used passively or reflexively): You are much too involved with the problem to see it clearly.
12. to envelop or enfold, as if with a wrapping.
13. to swallow up, engulf, or overwhelm.
14.
a. Archaic. to roll, surround, or shroud, as in a wrapping.
b. to roll up on itself; wind spirally; coil; wreathe.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME involven < L involvere to roll in or up, equiv. to in- in- 2 + volvere to roll; see revolve

Related forms:
in⋅volve⋅ment, noun
in⋅volv⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. necessitate, require, demand. 6, 7, 9. Involve, entangle, implicate imply getting a person connected or bound up with something from which it is difficult to extricate himself or herself. To involve is to bring more or less deeply into something, esp. of a complicated, embarrassing, or troublesome nature: to involve someone in debt. To entangle (usually passive or reflexive) is to involve so deeply in a tangle as to confuse and make helpless: to entangle oneself in a mass of contradictory statements. To implicate is to connect a person with something discreditable or wrong: implicated in a plot.

Antonyms:
7. extricate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To involve
in·volve   (ĭn-vŏlv')   
tr.v.   in·volved, in·volv·ing, in·volves

  1. To contain as a part; include.

  2. To have as a necessary feature or consequence; entail: was told that the job would involve travel. See Synonyms at include.

  3. To engage as a participant; embroil: involved the bystanders in his dispute with the police.

    1. To connect closely and often incriminatingly; implicate: evidence that involved the governor in the scandal.

    2. To influence or affect: The matter is serious because it involves your reputation.

  5. To occupy or engage the interest of: a story that completely involved me for the rest of the evening.

  6. To make complex or intricate; complicate.

  7. To wrap; envelop: a castle that was involved in mist.

  8. Archaic To wind or coil about.


[Middle English involven, from Latin involvere, to enwrap : in-, in; see in-2 + volvere, to roll, turn; see wel-2 in Indo-European roots.]
in·volve'ment n., in·volv'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

involve 
1382, from L. involvere "entangle, envelop," lit. "roll into," from in- "in" + volvere "to roll" (see vulva). Originally "envelop, surround," sense of "take in, include" first recorded 1605. Involved "complicated" is from 1643.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: in·volve
Pronunciation: in-'välv, -'volv also -'väv or-'vov
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms:in·volved; in·volv·ing
: to affect with a disease or condition : include in an area of damage, trauma, or insult involved in the proliferative process> involved the trigeminal nerve> involved patients were isolated> involved themuscles>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Idioms & Phrases

involve

see get involved with.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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